That Which is Hidden
by The StarsShadow15
Summary: Neither Tigress nor Po want to admit how they feel and this quickly creates a mess. Will a crystal with shape shifting abilities help the predicament or make it worse? Morals are tested and strained, emotions are questioned, family issues arise and an organized crime group becomes a threat that has even gotten the attention of the Imperials. (Cover image- LiL-Humphrey)
1. Thoughts

**Welcome to my first official full length story! Quick note before we get started: I've had this idea for a story for something like 3 years now so timeline wise, this'll take place after KFP 2 and before the events of 3.**

 **Also, because I'm only allowed to list, I want to mention that this story is planned to be far more than Romance and Adventure. The full listing would be something like Adventure/Romance/Mystery/Family/Friendship. I REALLY like what I have planned to happen, so I really hope you enjoy this.**

 **Obvious Disclaimer is obvious: I of course own no rights to Kung Fu Panda, that belongs to Dreamworks, or the Inception quote below.**

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 _What is the most resilient parasite? A bacteria, a virus, an intestinal worm? No, an idea...resilient, highly contagious. One fully formed is almost impossible to eradicate... All it takes is one simple idea to change everything... –Cobb, Inception_

What's a life without conflict? Is it boring? Uneventful? All around dull?

Many would agree that yes, it is. The warriors of the Jade palace being among them. Some of them at least.

A couple in particular, namely Master Po, Grand Master Shifu, and Master Tigress to some extent, were ok with the peace and tranquility that had been in the valley for the past several months. Po and Shifu because they both had attained what was called inner peace. Which explained simply, meant you had dealt with your innermost and largest problems, and either came to terms with it or solved the problem itself.

Shifu had to deal with his adopted son, a snow leopard named Tai Lung, which was in all respects, a Kung Fu legend. But like many, he had darkness in him and sadly, he was consumed by it. Like all of those with power, he was tempted by the unquenchable thirst to gain more, and sought after the dragon scroll, which he believed would allow him to attain the ultimate power. This lead to a confrontation between father and son, and during it Shifu admitted to the mistakes that he made that indirectly caused Tai Lung to fall to darkness, but Tai Lung wouldn't let it go. In the end, he was sent to the spirit realm by the newly appointed Dragon Warrior, a fat flabby panda named simply...Po.

Then along came a psychopathic peacock named Lord Shen, and Po had to face _his_ inner demons. Turned out that peacock had been responsible for massacring the village that Po had been born into. He had also been directly involved with the death of his mother and possibly his father too. Shen was the reason why Po ended up so far away from what would've been his home, and caused an unusual amount of frustration to crop up inside Po. Though he tried to get Shen to see the error of his ways, like he tried to do with all of his enemies, Shen couldn't let go of his past, and ended up getting crushed by his own demons.

Now, several months later, what demons were there to fight? Well of course not all warriors of the Jade palace had attained inner peace, but one in particular, namely Master Tigress, sure seemed awfully close to starting that adventure. And all because of that blasted Panda.

That stupid flabby panda, who had _somehow_ managed to master some of the highest level techniques in Kung Fu and defeated the fiercest enemies in all of China. Who had also managed to melt a few layers of ice around her heart, which was perhaps the most impressive feat of all.

And she wasn't sure she was comfortable with that fact. One thing she did know, however...she was really growing to like his hugs. She had hugged him in the basement of Gongmen jail before she and the rest of the five were planning on destroying Shen's weapons. Po had been adamant on wanting to go, and when he said the hardcore couldn't understand his reasons for hunting Shen down, Tigress had to console him, she _did_ understand, but she _didn't_ want to see him get hurt by the weapon that was able to kill Master Thundering Rhino.

Later he had hugged her in return after she pulled him out of the water in Gongmen bay just after he had defeated Shen's fleet, and indirectly caused his death.

There had been a night only a few days after they returned to the Jade Palace, things had just began to return to normalcy when Tigress noticed Po being less chipper than his usual self during dinner.

After he had had several servings of his famous noodle soup, while everyone else was chatting away about...Well whatever it was, Tigress didn't care, because Po kept having these staring matches with his empty bowl.

Now of course everyone dozes off into their own mind for some introspection, but for Po...well, one that was really rare. And two, it was even more unsettling that his brows were furrowed and eyes were narrowed, like instead of a friendly staring match he was trying to glare holes through his bowl.

"Po?" Tigress finally said barely above a whisper so as to not attract the attention of the other five who were still happily chatting, oblivious to the trouble.

She knew he heard her, after all, she was sitting right next to him. Something she never would've seen herself doing little more than a year ago. Back when she hated the Panda's guts for stealing her chance at becoming the dragon warrior. But now it just felt natural, if both seats next to him were taken she'd glare daggers at one of them until he or she would get the obvious message.

After a few seconds of her question hanging in the air, the haze in his Jade green eyes vanished and he looked up at her with a smile.

"Huh, yeah what is it?" He said with forced cheeriness that Tigress saw right through.

"You ok?" She asked simply. "Looked like you were trying to destroy the bowl with your eyes."

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Ya see, I was...I was trying to...I was testing out this technique Master Shifu taught me the other day the piercing eyes of Kodang!" He then proceeded to demonstrate this "technique" by glaring at the bowl in a far less convincing manner than before. Po was always such a god awful liar. But it did manage to make the corner of Tigress' mouth curve upwards in a smirk.

He then looked back at her with a giddy grin, checking to see if she fell for it. She arched a brow in return, silently pressing the question.

Avoiding her glance and suddenly finding the nearby cabinets interesting, she knew she had him. Just one more push.

"Po...?" She said in _that_ tone. The tone that she used when she was being friendly and yet serious. The one that clearly told him, _you're not fooling me Panda._

Po suddenly looked up, but not at her. Curiously, she turned to follow his gaze to whatever caught his attention. She then noticed that the background noise had died, the others had ended their conversation and turned towards them with curious glances of their own.

"What's wrong Po?" Viper now asked in a similarly soft tone to the one Tigress had used. The other guys nodded in agreeance.

Knowing there was truly no escape now, Po let out a hefty sigh. "I just...worry there was something more I could've done for Shen. If I could've said something different and saved him..."

They all understood immediately. This was always one of the warriors' struggles, all the "what-if's" that followed a battle. Granted they all had far less severe cases of this than soldiers of war who had to kill. But if a citizen got hurt, or if they were forced to kill, which had only happened in a couple of extreme cases, a few of them would be bothered for a handful of days, thinking over the events over and over.

Emotions were still not one the Tiger's many skills that she had mastered. As she opened and closed her mouth, trying to find something to console her best friend, her other friends came to rescue her. Crane in particular decided to take this one.

"Hey come on now Po. You told us already what you had said to him, there was no possible better thing to say than that. He couldn't let go of his anger, of his hate, he couldn't let his wounds heal, just like you told him." Letting his words sink in a for a moment, he started to see the Giant Panda start to inflate with the energy he always held with him. So as icing on the cake, he added. "You did the best you could, and it was a better choice than we all could've made."

Po looked up at that and nodded with a smile, already back to his usual self.

"Preach man. Preach!" Mantis added. That got a heartfelt chuckle out of all them. One of his rare well timed moments of levity. No, really, they truly were _really_ _rare._

The rest of the night went exactly how they all enjoyed it to be, filled with much more light-hearted chatter and Po was back to his usual cheery self.

Since that night there have been no other cases of Po assuming a more serious state of being, not that they knew about at least. But they doubted anything else came up anyways, Po wasn't one to fret about the past. Some of the others were more prone to that sort of activity, like Tigress for an example.

Like all the times that her mind would wander back to those hugs they shared. Never had she been very emotionally comfortable with anyone, even her adopted father. But for some reason, she absolutely loved the last hug Po had given her. She just could not get her mind to drop it. She'd occasionally even catch herself imagining it as she tried to fall asleep at night.

While to most of the others it was a relief that Po hadn't entered a serious mode ever again, after several months passed of him constantly being his happy go-lucky self, having achieved inner peace and solved all of his own inner turmoil problems. Tigress couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Not like anything she felt when he first became the Dragon Warrior, but it was still there. And it was amplified by a small desire to see the more serious side of Po.

Not that she didn't love, no scratch that, she had the utmost respect for Po and who he was, but she couldn't resist the desire to see both sides of the coin, much like her comrades. Who she has witnessed just about every shard of character about them, ones that she cared to witness at least.

Now as she was circling the giant panda in the training hall in the sparring ring, she was happy to witness the slightly more serious side of Po once more. Though he was still entirely himself, and wouldn't keep that serious expression for long, it was there and it almost made her smile had she not kept those facial muscles from moving.

Surprisingly, Po decided to end the stare down first, officially reassuming their spar. They had already been fighting for a couple minutes, no clear winner being chosen, while the others continued with their own respective training. Or so the two thought, as often as the others could they'd stop and watch the two masters go at each other.

No doubt thanks to the inner peace he achieved, ever Po's humiliating defeat that night in the Gongmen jail, Po has become a far stronger opponent...though Tigress could still beat him on occasion. But it was becoming worryingly less frequent.

As the two continued to trade punches, kicks, attempted to grapple each other to the ground via wrist locks and other controls, the others finally gave up on attempting their own training and simply watched the spectacle. And they had noticed him yet, but Shifu too was rather enthralled by the impressive equality of their fight.

In the midst of their fight, both sets of arms got entangled so they were face to face, both wincing as they had to try their hardest to not be moved. Po was incredibly strong given his size, but Tigress at the current moment was going for his wrists which were significantly weaker on him and not as flexible. Meanwhile Tigress was losing her grip on Po's other arm as his elbow was inching closer and closer to her face, if he started forcing her head down, he'd be able to deal some blows in rapid succession.

Both refusing to be moved and give up the strength contest, they locked eyes and Tigress couldn't resist the temptation to challenge him, despite the fact they were evenly matched. Though she did start to notice Po's arms starting to shake, he was getting tired.

"Scared Po?" She managed to get out with a very strained sounding voice.

"Heh, you wish." Finally changing tactics, Po quickly kicked out with his right leg towards her knee and it surprisingly made contact, buckling it. Which resulted in Tigress letting go to escape but Po wasn't having it, and forced her to the ground that she was already leaning towards.

Throwing all of his weight onto her as fast as possible, he placed his knee into her side, grabbed her wrist into a lock, and kept her head down with the other arm. She didn't even bother struggling, she knew it was over and tapped out.

Letting her go, Po offered his paw out and pulled her up onto her feet with a grunt from both of them.

Shifu then hit the floor with his staff twice. _THUD. THUD._ All six students snapped their heads towards the noise, never having noticed Shifu's presence.

"Well done Po. Though, you could've done that far earlier while you and Tigress where in a grappling lock. And you four!"

The others looked sheepishly at Shifu. _Caught!_

"Care to explain to me why you stopped training while these two exhibited excellent fighting techniques and continued to train their hardest with each other?"

Hearing the rare praise, Po and Tigress smiled warmly at each other. That was definitely one of their most intense spars in a while. After a few moments of silence as Shifu glared at the other four, Mantis dared to speak up.

"Did you not see how awesome that fight was Master Shifu?! I wish I could watch that again!"

Shifu had to debate on whether or not to tell them he was watching almost the entire time, and was slightly thrown by the Po like statement coming from Mantis.

"I...did in fact. It was impressive yes, but perhaps next time, instead of ogling your eyes, you should start sparring yourselves! Now, you are all dismissed for the night. I imagine Master Po will be happy to cook dinner. I will join in later."

"Yes Master." They all said and bowed in practiced unison.

Granted the four had not been training in the last section of the evening, but before Po and Tigress' spar had caught their eyes they had been training hard like they do every day. So they were all quite tired. Trudging their way back to the barracks and the kitchen appeared to be quite the task.

And as per usual, Po entered fanboy mode before they even exited the training hall. Complimenting all the others on what they had been doing. They always tried to not let it get to their head but after a few months of this, they all started to love it.

As they went through the large dual doors with Crane and Monkey in the front, Mantis and Viper shortly behind them and Po and Tigress in the back, Tigress spoke up quietly enough so that only Po would hear while the others went on their way.

"Po.." She had said in a rather demure sounding voice that was truly not in character for her. Sensing it, Po turned to her immediately with concern. "Yeah? What is it Ti, are you hurt? Oh did I kick your leg too hard?!"

"No, no not at all. Nerves of steel remember?" She said with a small smile, referencing their talk on the boat to Gongmen. Po smiled too at the memory.

"Anyways, I just wanted to know if..." Before she could complete her sentence, her mind and mouth froze. She couldn't get herself to say it! _Just ask him! It's not that hard!_

 _I know it's not! But friends like us don't just talk in private, especially by the peach tree!_

As Po cast a curious glance at the open ended sentence, she looked up at him once more, with only a ghost of the beautiful smile that was there before.

"I just wanted to know if you planned on cooking your noodle soup again?"

Not bothering to investigate, Po fell for the obvious substitute. "Yup! Just like always. Now come on, let's go!" He said turning around to the others and pumping himself up to run the rest of the way. A white and black blur soon blasted past the others who were already a fair ways ahead of them.

They all smiled at this. Even after a long day of exercising and training, Po somehow still found the energy to run towards the kitchen and get cooking at the end of it.

Realizing she was still smiling long after Po had ran ahead; she stopped walking and berated herself. _Stop! Stop it! You can't get attached to any member of the team more so than the others. Don't let emotions in. Not that deep anyways. I've gotta control this. I gotta stop this!_

Steeling her features, she was about to continue on her way when Shifu seemingly teleported in front of her again. How did he always manage to do that!?

 _Dad..._

"Everything alright Master Tigress?" He asked, voice full of concern, eyes gazing up at her in curiosity.

Knowing this was _definitely_ not a topic to be discussed with him. She quickly responded with a bow and a "yes master" before continuing on her way.

Once she entered the kitchen, she could already smell the salivating delicious aroma of Po's magical soup.

"Hey there she is!" Monkey called out, raising a hand to her in greeting, always an animal of few words. She just nodded and sat down in her usual chair, right next to Po's at the end of the table.

After engaging in some small talk for a few minutes, which even with them she really wasn't fond of, she watched Po as he expertly diced up numerous vegetables and herbs she'd never know the name of. Suddenly Crane called out to Po.

"Hey Po, I was just wondering, do you know how to cook anything else?"

Po slowly turned towards the avian with his mouth slightly agape. "Of _course_ I do. I was raised by a chef Crane. I just always cook this because I thought it was always everyone's favorite."

Sensing he had struck a nerve in the Panda's rarely shown pride, Crane quickly amended. "Oh yeah no don't worry, of course it is! I was just curious."

"Yeah man, I never get tired of that stuff!" Mantis added in.

All the others voiced their agreement as well; Tigress' was especially vocal with her well said nod. Seemingly satisfied with the outcome of that, Po returned to adding all the various components to the soup.

As they all ate their dinner in relative silence due to the speed at which they were gobbling up Po's delicious soup. Like a reversal of that time a few months back, Po noticed that Tigress was looking rather seriously at her already emptied bowl. But unlike himself, this wasn't entirely unusual so he let it be.

For a moment at least. Then he thought of a move she did during their spar and the fan-boy moment he almost had.

"Oh Tigress!" He yelled out so suddenly that it startled her along with everybody else. "Remember that back flip kick thing you did earlier? It was _SO_ cool how'd you do that? How long did it take ya to learn that? Can you teach me?"

The others softly laughed and went back to their meal. Not being able to resist the smile again approaching from the praise, she smiled for a split second before the thoughts that were racing through her mind a second ago returned.

In all honesty she would have loved to teach him that technique. But her thoughts had been about trying to not pick favorites among her team like she had been lately. She realized she wouldn't practically give a private lesson to anyone else on the team.

Taking a breath and refusing to look at Po for the fear of how he'd respond, she spoke with a bit colder of a tone than she had been using for quite some time. "Perhaps some time in the future Dragon Warrior."

It was already quiet in the kitchen due to the fact everybody was just eating, but now it was as silent as a graveyard. Not without a light flavor of tension. Seeing as this was because of her, she then stood up, scooting her chair back noisily.

Everyone followed her with their heads as she put her bowl into the sink then started heading towards their rooms without another word.

"Hitting the hay already?" Viper called out.

"Yes." She simply said. "Goodnight everyone."

"Uh ok, good night Tigress." Po said in a forlorn voice.

"What was that about?" Crane asked after a few moments.

Slithering out of her chair, Viper departed as well with a simple, "I'll go see what's up."

Shrugging it off, the guys, excluding Po, then went into a conversation about their respective interests in the female kind. Po wasn't listening though. He was too consumed by thoughts once more. He wanted to go after Tigress himself, but Viper beat him to it. And what was up with her anyways? She seemed happy a little bit ago. Smiling her beautiful smile every other minute. Did he say something?

He'd always heard that females would always misinterpret things and get upset for reasons that you, as a guy, could never explain. But this had never happened before. Is this what just happened or did-

He was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed several pairs of eyes looking at him expectantly.

"What?"

"We asked you something buddy." Monkey says.

"Right, yeah of course, I was listening, can you just...repeat the question?"

"We asked if you agree." Mantis said, a smirk on his features. The other two looked at him in surprise but then nodded in agreement, an entire silent conversation taking place.

Po, of course not having understood what had been going on, decided to just go with it. "Uh...sure?"

The others then burst into hysterics. Po just looked at them in confusion. What was going on?

Several moments later of Po waiting impatiently for their laughter to die down, Mantis finally spoke, a few chuckles still present. "You...buddy, you just admitted you have feelings for Tigress!" Aaaannd there they go again laughing their mouths off.

"Oh come on! I do not!" This got the other guys' attention. "I mean, guys come on, she's practically the leader of the Furious Five! We all know there's no chance she'll ever want to settle down with someone like me."

"Don't beat yourself up Po." Crane said. "It's not that. Knowing her she probably wouldn't want to be with anyone outside her species. She'd need someone as strong as her."

The other two nod. They did know that. But it didn't stop them from hoping she'd settle with less though. Specifically, settle with someone like Po. As much as they could without directly telling him, they were all in honesty cheering Po on to get closer to Tigress.

"Maybe we need to find her a strapping traveling Tiger?" Mantis suggests with a deep chuckle.

Po noticeably perked up at this for several reasons. Did he feel a hint of jealousy that someone else may win her heart over? Nah, he knew he was right. She'd never fall for anyone that wasn't a tiger to be sure.

But what if they really did find some traveling merchant that was a tiger? Maybe they could set the two up? It'd be great to see Tigress finally happy with someone else...wouldn't it?

 _Maybe...I could get him to talk to her for me...and like...find out how she feels about...the others. Yeah of course, she what she thinks of the others...Oh who am I kidding? How she thinks of me is what I'd want to know._

A yawn breaks up his thought train, and soon the others are yawning too. After they all put their dishes away and say their farewells, Po starts cleaning up the kitchen. Often he was either the last or the first to bed.

Standing there, idly cleaning the dishes, he found his thoughts back at the idea of another tiger coming into all their lives. How would that change things? Would it be for the better of everyone? _Would I ever have a chance after she got a taste of the bodacity of another tiger?_

 _But why would she fall for me anyways? A panda, one of the slowest animals around, and a tiger, one of the fastest and most elite animals. There'd be no competition... Best just let these thoughts fade over time.. Inner peace...Inner peace..._

And with that, he headed to his own bed, hoping to rid his mind of such negative thoughts and return to his usual happy self. He would be soon; he'd be just fine tomorrow he told himself.

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 **Before you beam out please do tell me what you think, if anything needs fixing, thoughts, what you liked/didn't like, etc. Feedback is the best and it's great motivation.**


	2. The Animals

**A/N: So, for any of you who are following this story, I will apologize for taking so long to get another chapter up. I'm a fast writer and yet a really slow one. (translation: horrible at finishing things)**

 **Looking back, I forgot to mention that in this story I will include some things from the Legends of Awesomeness cartoon like the existence of the bandit groups, some references to history and maybe a few other things.**

 **And a few of you commented on a miswording at the end of last chapter. I want to clear up that I didn't mean there'd be no competition in terms of a tiger vs panda, I was speaking of no competition about Tigress' emotions for who she'd fall for. I'll have to go back and fix that someday XD.**

 **Now, on with the show!**

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 **That Which is Hidden**

 **Chapter 2: Animals**

 _Ugggghh._

He hated when things didn't make sense to him. Especially after it had already been explained to him multiple times per his request. Deciding to just end it, he nodded in false understanding of the explanation of all this.

All this being the reason instead of training, the Jade Palace warriors had been requested to help an outpost of Imperial Soldiers just outside the Valley of Peace. Somewhere in the explanation the reason they were needed to help is that the soldiers weren't exactly in tight formation right now or something...

Po got lost once Shifu started explaining the various missions they'd all been sent on, details on the Commander of the place, proper etiquette in the presence of Imperials, and a few other topics that went in one ear and out the other. This time could have truly been better spent sleeping or eating. After all, he had cut into their breakfast.

The gong went off at an ungodly early time like it always did, and just like always, all the students jumped from the beds and stood at the ready outside the door and greeted the day and their master with a curt "Good morning Master!"

And like always, as they all stood there in tight, firm, almost robotic like postures, they all watched with a hint of amusement as they heard Po stumble out of bed and come out the door and greet Shifu as well. Late, just like always.

But they were all used to it and knew Po wasn't being lazy, he just couldn't get up quite AS fast as they did.

"Students, you'll be excited to hear that I have an unusual task for you all today. But I will debrief you all after breakfast. Because..." Shifu paused and looked at the ground, the others eyed him curiously. "Well I admit, _I_ have little interest in the task, and also have little say in the matter as it has to do with the Imperial City."

After letting that sink in for a moment and observing their respective reactions, most of which were just a slight degree of awe, he then added. "Now, to breakfast. I'll return shortly."

"Yes, Master." They all said in unison with a bow. Making their way to the kitchen, Po and Tigress made eye contact for a moment. Po had been hoping to catch a smile but instead she broke the eye contact after a mere second. Instead looking straight ahead blankly.

Breakfast was one of the few times Po didn't actually cook ALL the time. Today being one of those occasions. So they all ate whatever they felt like of the large array of leftovers from Po's cooking.

There wasn't much chit chatter either as they all ate. While sure they had always gotten up in a snap at the crack of done ready to train, the haziness of sleep was still present for a time. They were just able to bury it or quickly work it off while training. Now that they were at a table and _not_ exercising, the lull of sleep was still quite strong. Monkey would occasionally begin to nod off, Viper would slowly slink back into a coil, Crane would slowly lower his beak then jerk it back up as he caught himself, Mantis would...appear to nod off. It was hard to tell... Tigress was the only one who almost never felt lingering effects of a sharp awakening.

Though there was one time when Po's dad had to stay in the palace due to the shop being destroyed and had kept them _all_ up with his constant "sinus clearings." In the morning training, they had all been on the border of falling asleep standing up, and for the first time since ever, Tigress actually. Po often thought back on that time with a smile, she had fallen asleep right on his shoulder.

Smiling once more at the memory Po had just begun to open his mouth to start a conversation with the typically quiet Tigress when Shifu teleported back into the kitchen. His sudden presence even managed to startle Po. _HOW_ did he always do that?! Po had inner peace now so how come he couldn't teleport at will like the little red panda. And also, worst timing ever.

Incidentally Po was looking at Shifu with a bit of a scowl and Shifu caste a curious glance of confusion in return. Looking towards the other students he began the debriefing.

"Now, as I said this is an Imperial matter so this is to be treated with the utmost importance..." He said as he teleported to the table (Po once again looked to his current position and back to his old one in confusion.."how did he?") and laid out a map of the entire valley of peace and neighboring settlements and villages.

"Xeng has received many reports of bandit attacks on various villages in and out of the Valley of Peace. But as it turns out, so has the imperial city."

"As you all know. There is an encampment of soldiers on the outskirts of the valley to prevent any forces entering that we ourselves wouldn't be able to handle. You are to go to that village and offer assistance to the soldiers and their Commander who are currently investigating the bandit groups movements to put a stop to them.

"Master," Crane spoke up. "You said that they've attacked and raided many villages, but how does that warrant the attention of legitimate military action from the imperials?"

"The answer to that Master Crane is the exact reason I do not see the need for us to be involved. Apart from the fact that they should have it more than under control, the short answer: politics have gotten involved. This...group has become brave enough to raid even small cities."

"They are clearly organized and operate at a higher level of intelligence than most bandits you six are used to dealing with. Being able to infiltrate cities and organize attacks, AND get away with it is unheard of."

They all nodded their silent agreement at this. Thinking of the various ding-dong groups of bandits. The Croc bandits, the buffalos under the Warrior king of Kidang, the three boars/pigs. All hardly legitimate threats.

"Now go. The forward Commander will be expecting you. He should have all the information you need to assist them."

As they all cleaned the kitchen up then headed out the barracks Mantis joked, "Well you jinxed us big guy. Now we got something to do."

"Is that a bad thing?" Tigress challenged. "Are you too lazy to go for a long run and fight more worthy opponents Master Mantis?"

"Not _at all_. I'm ready for some real _fighting!"_ The others smiled at this and began their long run down the stairs and to the village.

The run was rather uneventful and even with their impressive stamina the six find themselves slowing down to a walk for a brief respite. They even allowed a "snack stop" for Po...and...begrudgingly themselves, at about the halfway point. But more so to let Po rest, but they weren't complaining at the change of pace.

Reaching the outskirts of the technical geographical valley, the terrain smooths out considerably. A fact for which the warriors are quite grateful for.

Once they started getting close Tigress swore she could hear sounds of fighting but it quite faint at this distance. So she asked Crane to fly ahead and see what the commotion is. In but a few moments he returned in a haste and said the outpost was under attack by a very large group of bandits.

Their eyes all widened at this and they sprinted the rest of the way. Arriving on the scene, they saw something they never would've expected to. A practical swarm of bandits in the streets and coming in and out of buildings. The imperial soldiers effectively getting their tails handed to them.

Forgetting about any dramatic entrance like the six commonly enjoy doing, or at least, ever since Po joined them, they rushed into the fight. Apart from the sheer number of them, the first thing that crossed all their minds was that this wasn't just one group of bandits. This was _all_ of them and more. Wolves, boars, crocs, and buffalos were the majority, with a variety of felines as well.

At first the six stay together as a unit protecting the few remaining soldiers, they spread out as many of the bandits start retreating, realizing the odds suddenly turned against them.

After Po rapidly punched the solar plexus among other strike points in a water buffalo's torso then belly slammed him into a nearby building, he turned to face any new opponents and spotted another buffalo in the distance calling out orders to the retreating bandits. Not unlike the Wolves of Shen, Po noticed, these guys came for something. They were all taking weapons, armor, and whatever military equipment they could carry.

Charging after the apparent leader with a surprising burst of speed the buffalo had no hope of avoiding Po. As soon as he noticed he tried to dive out of the way of the incoming unstoppable force. Unfortunately Po was too quick and grabbed the animals legs in mid-air and spun and threw him into a building. What Po didn't plan however was his aim. The throw sent him through a front door of a house... Po slightly cringed at the damage but chased after him nonetheless.

When Po entered the house he looked around and at first didn't see his opponent. _Huh?_ _Where'd he go?_ He thought. Then suddenly two paws were at his throat but before they could do any damage Po broke the grip, reversed it and pinned the assailant against a wall. Once Po was finally taking in information he noticed that the bandit he was fighting was a Fox. Not a buffalo like the one he chased after. But he shrugged it off and decided he'll just talk to this one.

"Gotta give you credit buddy. Haven't seen any bandits overtake trained soldiers before. But you still can't over power a serving of _justice!_ Now relinquish what you know and tell me what's going on!"

"Guuuhh." The fox spoke with disgust. Avoiding eye contact with the panda and not even caring about the panda's hands around his neck. "The dragon warrior. Can't find a more morally blinded animal than one such as yourself. I don't have time for the likes of you." Finding his gal rather off putting Po was even more caught off guard when the animal suddenly struck both of Po arms in a downward motion, knocking them off his throat, and then head butted Po in the face.

"Gaahh!" Po cried out as he stumbled back onto his feet and held his now bleeding nose.

Seeing his chance the fox then slid between Po's legs and tried to dash out the window but once again Po wouldn't be so easily overtaken. Before he got anywhere the fox was tackled to the ground just as he leaped to go through a window. As Po crushed him to the ground he then picked him up and slammed the fox's head against the wall. Causing the wall to crack in a spider web formation.

"You really shouldn't have done that friend." Po growled, showing a rare trace of anger.

"I'm nut your phfriend you walking wutter balloon." The fox mumbled. Po could hear the haziness in his voice from getting his head slammed a couple times. He was actually impressed this animal was still conscious.

"Listen pal, you can keep trying to run away from the Dragon Warrior, but you're going to keep failing, and it's going to keep hurting. So just save yourself some effort and TELL me why you fellows are attacking a bunch of soldiers."

"Not gonna happen." He said, turning his head a bit more to make more solid eye contact with the panda for the first time.

Po then readjusted his grip on him and raised him higher up on the ground and slammed him into the wall again. That's when something fell out of the animals' pocket. A grey jagged crystal or ruby by the looks of it. About the size of a small ball and it looked oddly pure though as it was translucent and had no traces of any other color. It was about the size of a dumpling if it weren't for the occasional corner sticking out and the jagged surface.

"No!" the fox suddenly yelled out and struggled to overcome Po but he was way too strong and simply held him back against the wall. Holding him with one forearm, Po bent down and picked it up. He was about to ask what it was when-

"Let him go fatty," Po suddenly heard from behind him. Po discreetly put the object in his pocket before he slowly turned and his eyes widened at what he saw. Somehow Po failed to notice the entrance of two bandits with bows fully strung with an arrow nocked, ready to fire.

Po was already creating a plan to take them out when Tigress barged in, jump kicking one in the head and into the other. As the other turned to fire at her she quickly disarmed him then swept the legs out from under the animal. And before he even hit the ground, with the additional force of gravity by letting herself slightly fall, powerfully punched the animal into the ground with a loud _SLAM!_

" _Woohooho_ Tigress that was awesome! Wish I could've seen that in slow motion!" Po then turned back to the unamused fox. "You see that guy?! That's what happens when you-"

"Po! That's not how you interrogate someone." Tigress stern voice cut in. She could only shake her head as she approached the pair but also had to fight a smile from forming. "...Let me take over."

Po nodded and the Fox rolled his eyes but regretted it as he was still feeling rather dizzy almost lost consciousness from the motion of his eyes. Suddenly a Tiger's paws were at his throat and instead of feeling soft but strong like the panda; they were strong, and _sharp_. _Her claws were out._

"Master Tigress." He croaked out. "From one warrior to another, I doubt you'll do any-" He was going to say 'better' but that's when her claws suddenly pressed into his jugular with an uncomfortable amount of force. Admittedly making him swallow and chose his words more carefully.

"Talk. Why did you attack all these soldiers?" She said in a voice far too low for that of a female... _The tiger of the jade palace is a female...right?_

"Would you not oppress those who did the same to you?"

"These soldiers have done nothing to you that wasn't deserved. You're a group of bandits. What do you expect?"

"But that's exactly it, isn't it? 'We got what we deserved.' We're bandits... but that's because we've always been treated as such." He paused for a moment to gauge her reaction. Her paw was still uptight against his throat but she was clearly listening intently. "Most of us have always been treated like mindless unevolved animals, so... we think and act like like everyone expects us to. We improvise like the _monsters_ we're _supposed to be_."

Talking about animals being treated unfairly for what they are hit Tigress at home. It reminded her of the kids at the orphanage and her own past at being a Tiger and how others thought of her. All those years of being treated like a monster just because of what she was...

It wasn't unheard of that some animals were still speciest towards certain animals, especially against more fearsome ones like tigers. It made an uncomfortable amount of sense that others may experience the same thing. Crocodiles, wolves...especially wolves after the reputation they formed for themselves under the command of Lord Shen. Tigress couldn't help but pity them for a moment, perhaps they weren't so different.

Noticing the pause in her the fox suddenly brought both legs up and kicked her back with both legs. Po, who was standing nearby stumbled back from suddenly having an adult tiger kicked at him.

As the two recovered the fox made a hasty dash for the window and actually made it out this time. Chasing after him, Po noticed that most of the other bandits had already left or are now in the process of disengaging. Even though he's much faster now than when he was years ago, he also noted that this fox was quite a lot faster than him.

"Rendezvous Beta!" the fox suddenly yelled out to the remaining bandits as he climbed up to the roof of a house. Po and Tigress utilized a technique they've used before to get up there. Po throws Tigress up and then jumps up and off the wall to grab a hold of Tigress' awaiting paw. The two then continued the rooftop chase of the fox.

As they approached the end of the line of houses, they figured they'd had him. But instead he casually turned around, jumped off and saluted them midair. And before he even went below the level of the building, an owl snatched him by the shoulders and they fly off into the distance with many of the bandits following below them.

The two masters could only stand there and watch. That was slightly impressive.

"Wow" Po said after a moment more. "Crane and I should practice something like that." Tigress just looked at him in a bemused fashion but he didn't notice.

Hopping down from the building, the masters then begun helping everyone that needed it. Bringing soldiers to the med bay, helping the unconscious ones sit up. As the masters reunite after a good hour or so of helping out, a Lion approaches them.

"Thank you, Masters of the Jade Palace. If you had not come when you did, that could've ended far worse." The six turn and bow to him, taking in his appearance. The lion wasn't wearing anything too fancy as he was a commander. A red long sleeved top with gold embroidery on the stitches, including the one down the center of it and basic tan pants.

"Once again, The Animals and Zhixin caught us off guard with that attack. They have not attacked us directly like that before. The word bandit no longer seems adequate in describing our foes. They're too intelligent." The Commander turned to look at the multitude of soldiers behind him who were still recovering from the battle. "We're losing this fight. Which is why we've requested your help." He said, turning back to the masters. "But where are my manners? I am Commander Deshi. The unofficial general of all imperial forces in or nearby the valley. I must once again thank you for your timely arrival."

"Oh it's really no big deal. We _LOVE_ giving out a hot plate of justice to those dastardly fiend like fiends." Po spoke while punching the air, his usual humble playful self.

Deshi chuckled at the panda's antics. "We are sorry we did not get here sooner, Commander." Tigress said. "Will those under your command be alright?"

At the mention of them, Deshi's smile left and he began to walk back into the center of town. "Most likely yes. The Animals doesn't usually aim to kill or seriously injure. They always have an ulterior motive for what they do."

"A what?" Po inquired quietly. Feeling rather shy he didn't know what that meant.

"Another, usually hidden, reason for what they do, Dragon Warrior. This time, they were after our weapons and equipment. This would be of less concern were they regular bandits. But there have been numerous reports of some of the members of their group being well trained in weapon use or some form of Martial Arts." Po nodded, thinking of the short fight he had with the fox. While of course he quickly overpowered him, Po was surprised to find a bandit fighting back with more skill than the average John Doe.

"I don't know what Grand Master Shifu told you all but The Animals don't only have a presence here in the Valley of Peace. There have been attacks and raids on other cities and villages too."

"That is the majority of what he told us Commander." Tigress said. "We were sent to offer you our assistance to the best of our abilities to stop these criminals. If you could fill us in on all that you know, or any plans against them, it would help us help you."

Deshi smiled and bowed. "Thank you Masters of the Jade Palace. But I'm afraid I do not know much. I know the majority of their members do not come from crime families. Most are simply animals that have been mistreated for what they are. I don't know if they have a base, I don't know how the commune with each other, I don't know how they've managed to infiltrate and raid cities and get away with it."

"I've tried analyzing their movements for some kind of pattern but then they go off and do something utterly random like terrorize a village for no good reason. Sometimes they have a purpose, sometimes I think they just want to watch the world burn...and I don't know what they're planning, if anything."

"What I _do_ know is their leader's name. Zhixin. He's a red fox. I thought I saw Master Po and Tigress chasing after him."

"Please just call me Po, sir." Po said.

Deshi nodded and smiled. "Alright. Po it is."

"But yes, Commander, we were chasing after him but he managed to escape via an owl picking him up."

Deshi sighed but nodded. "Yes, he does that. You think you have him in a corner and he _somehow_ always manages to slip away. Talk about fulfilling the stereotypes of foxes."

"Now, as for plans I'm afraid I don't have anything for you. The missions I have sent regiments of soldiers on are usually recon missions, attempts at predicting their movements that almost always fail."

He sighed once more before turning to them again. "All I have for you for now is to keep doing what you're doing and to capture and interrogate as many of them as you can and keep in constant contact. We just need information."

"Yes Sir. We will do our best. Are you sure you don't need any further assistance here? What'll happen to the ones you've captured here?" Tigress asked.

"They'll be sent to Ghor Gom prison like the rest of them. And no we're good Master Tigress. We'll recover, we always do. Farewell for now."

The six masters then bowed to the Commander, an act which truly humbled the lion. They really had no reason to bow to him.

As they start walking back, Po absent mindedly brushed his paw against the ruby in his pocket and was reminded of it. He then pulled it out and curiously observed it before speaking up.

"Hey, uh, guys. Look at what that leader had. Zhixin was his name? When I had him against the wall this fell out." The others encircle Po and they too curiously eye it.

"Looks like something valuable." Said viper.

"Like some kind of precious stone no doubt. But a rather odd color for one..." Added crane.

"He probably stole it, Po." Tigress said. "Could ask around the valley for who it might belong to. Maybe one of the royals. Let's head back and tell Shifu about what happened."

Po stayed at the back of the group and continued looking at the stone as they started the trip back. That's when it started getting ice cold. Po almost yelped from the amount of energy it seemed to be absorbing from him. He was about to drop it and leave it behind when he thought he noticed a tint of color that wasn't there before.

Then right before his eyes, like ink in water, green color spread from the center of the crystal and the once grey ruby turned into a very vibrant emerald green. Po was about to go full fanboy mode on it when he noticed another thing. He could see his reflection in it! _Oh this is so cool! I gotta tell the-_

 _Or wait..._ he thought he saw his reflection for a second.

Now what he sees is a..a...

A white Tiger with Jade Green eyes... and a goofy lopsided grin.

 _Is that...me?_

* * *

 **A/N: Me again, tell me what you thought in the reviews! Feedback and communication or praise and constructive criticism are the best for motivation.**


	3. Comrades

**A/N:** Alrighty, that took way too long, again. But I gotta say I think it really payed off. I really like this chapter. Things are starting to get interesting. Well at least according to me.

Oh and don't mind the story title change. Hidden Love has been the title ever since I started this story years ago. Felt like it needed a more mature title and then this one came to mind and I instantly loved it. I think it's ultimately more fitting too for all that'll happen in this story later on.

Alright, chapter 3! And **disclaimer** : Don't own any Kung Fu Panda apart from this story and the characters I have created.

* * *

 **That Which is Hidden**

 **Chapter 3: Comrades**

To say the trip back from the settlement was boring would be one of the biggest understatements of the past few months. Which had _ALL_ been boring. Generally when the six were out and about traveling long distances, they'd come across the croc bandits stealing apples from a cart, or the water buffalo's wanting to pick a fight, but this time? Nope. Not a single disturbance. It was good news as there wasn't any crime. And yet it wasn't cause how boring.

So all they had to do on the way back when they weren't running was talk. The main topic of discussion was how the battle went at the newly titled "Soldier's Village." There was already the Miner's, the Artist's, and the Musicians, so it made sense to call it that.

As the guys and Viper talked about the battle, Tigress couldn't shake a strong feeling of unsettlement. Was it just the lack of excitement on the way back, the way The Animals had seemed so organized and were able to overwhelm trained soldiers, or was it just that she had time to herself and her own introspection?

...probably the latter. Introspection didn't always bear the best results. And it just made her uncomfortable. She was looking forward to training when they got back. Granted it'd be late afternoon, so the others would probably be at least a little tired, but still.

Since they did not run the whole way, when they finally did return to the Jade Palace, it was indeed well into late afternoon. Five out of the six trudged their way down the Sacred Hall of Heroes to the pond where Shifu waited. Tigress on the other hand looked ready to spring into action once more. She almost looked... giddy.

Shifu smirked as he noticed this, the striking contrast between the students was rather amusing.

"Warriors. Mission report?" He said once they all stood before him in a more or less... Well ok, rather lesser tight stances and formation than usual.

Tigress was the one who usually gave these reports and she once again took the lead. "When we arrived at the...Soldier's village, the group of bandits was already attacking and stealing supplies. Their battle skill clearly well above any other bandits we've encountered but we still overcame them."

"Commander Deshi informed us that they are referred to as 'The Animals', and that their leader is a fox named Zhixin. Unfortunately he was unable to supply us with much information regarding their movements as they have failed to learn anything solid. He agreed to keep us informed when and if they could use our help."

Shifu _hmmed_ and looked at the ground for a couple moments in thought before speaking again.

"Very well. We will keep our eyes and ears open for anything on The Animals and wait for word from Commander Deshi. In the meantime I suggest you all get back to training so these more experienced combatants prove to be no challenge whatsoever..."

 _Nnnooooo,_ five of the warriors thought simultaneously while visually deflating.

 _Yes!_ Thought Tigress as she perked up even further.

"But, as you all have fought in a battle and had to go a great distance to do so. I will give you the rest of the day off from training."

 _Yes!_ Five of the warriors thought simultaneously while getting a sudden second wind.

 _D'oh!_ Thought Tigress as she deflated.

Shifu started to walk away but stopped and gave a hard look to the males of the group. "I still expect that you spend this time wisely and not _goof and do nothing_. Might I suggest meditation or practicing techniques. Now go."

They all bowed and headed their separate ways. Shifu didn't even have to think very about what they were each going to actually do. Po would get a late lunch, Tigress would pout that they weren't training then go to training by herself. Crane would either practice calligraphy or practice new techniques. Mantis and Monkey? Who knows...

After Po helped himself to what many would call a three course meal, or in his case, lunch, he went to the Sacred Peach tree of Heavenly Wisdom. Or just the peach tree as it was more commonly called among everyone apart from Shifu. Too long of a title.

Ever since Oogway found him here that one night he was eating away all of his sorrows, this place had become his favorite to meditate or just relax. The others have noticed him there in his infamous inner peace trance a number of times already since they got back.

After Po got himself into a peaceful state, arms slowly moving with the soft current of wind that flowed around him. The wind moving through his fur, the occasional peach petal floating around, the warm sun. It was all very relaxing. He started his usual train of peaceful thinking. His friends, his success, his current family and the one that sacrificed themselves to save him, which he was mostly at peace about. And...

Tigress.

A slight frown formed as he once again couldn't keep her out of his mind, even in this state. Not that he didn't want to think about her. She was beautiful and he loved, no, really liked her spirit, and her amber eyes, and her smile and...ugh.

Po opened his eyes with a soft exhale. He had achieved inner peace but that didn't mean things couldn't still get to him. And he couldn't rid himself of thoughts about Tigress even when he wanted to. And subsequently the matter of him being a good match for her. It's not that he wasn't strong enough for her. He could put up a far better fight against her now compared to when he fought with her a little in the Gongmen jail. She'd probably just want or need a tiger. And that's if she was even interested in a mate anyways.

But speaking of tigers, he thought he looked rather...interesting as a tiger in the reflection in that crystal thing. Thinking of it he pulled it out of his pocket. The crystal was a little smaller than the size of his palm. _Perfect rock throwing size_ , the more mischievous part of him thought. And just like last time, seemingly in the center of the crystal, he saw a translucent image of himself as a white tiger.

Which wasn't the only odd thing about this crystal Po reminded himself. The crystal was _not_ perfectly jade green in color when he first saw it. It was grey before it turned colors right before his eyes. Did that mean anything?

 _Aw whatever_. Po thought. Resolutely shaking his head of such thoughts. Back to inner peace mode. Inner peace...Inner peace...

* * *

 _Few days after the battle..._

A couple hundred miles away, a little ways off a major traveling road was a village that sat right before the beginning of a forest covered mountain side. The village was a common stopping spot for travelers and the citizens knew that so they made sure to accommodate for that. There were small shops selling traveling goods, an inn, but the most popular place by far was the tavern.

One traveler in particular was a middle aged goat, carrying his cart of merchandise like so many others. He set it down with a tired yet content sigh, looking upon his favorite stopping spot. He had been traveling all day and it was now dark. This place was exactly what he needed. The friendly goat knew just about all the bartenders and waitresses in there and they all knew him, he was just one of many regulars.

The two story building in front of him had a deck on the second floor overlooking the street which covered the front entrance. The front entrance also had a small deck area that was below the upper floor deck. Even had a few chairs and benches for people to sit on and enjoy the outdoors. A little ways out from the dual front doors sat a big wooden sign with a specialty menu on it and the name of the place in big fancy writing.

 _The Traveler's Legend._

 _You sure got that right_. He, along with all the other regulars always thought as they arrived.

As he walked up to it, he was already imagining the good times he'd have in there. Sharing drinks and stories with other travelers, relaxing...

Those thoughts were soon shattered as he saw a sign on the front door.

CLOSED

Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll be back tomorrow

He sighed and looked at the ground, utterly disappointed at this turn of events. Wasn't the first time though. He's been there so many times now he wouldn't dare try counting. And out of all those times, apart from the holidays of course, they'd only been closed on a random day like today (a Tuesday) something like... well to his knowledge less than 10 times.

And just like the previous times he had come and they were closed, he heard a cacophony of noise in there. Just like any other night really but far more talking. _Must be reserved for some special party again_.

He shrugged it off and headed to the nearby inn which was sure to be bustling with activity since this place was closed.

Inside really was just like every other night, in many ways it really was like a party. Animals were having drinks, telling stories, and all around having a good time. There were many animals of many different kinds just like always, but tonight was a mix outsiders have never seen before. There were crocodiles, pigs, wolves, buffalo's and a few unique animals. Like the black panther in the back by the front window who just sat there quietly. Wearing a simple light grey tank top and a dark brown pair of pants.

Even as a couple other animals at his table talked about a recent mission they went on, he just sat there quietly with his arms crossed, observing the crowd of animals with thoughts passing through his mind a mile a minute.

"So hey, hey guy. Did we, like, do good on our last mission or what? Are we, y'know, in?" A crocodile by the name of Fung said. The panther internally sighed at this. He was practically the recruiter for The Animals and while he was mostly happy with his position, some of these guys were truly idiots. It was often debatable if they'd really be that helpful to their cause.

That's how really he felt about the majority of the bandits from the Valley of Peace. Most of 'em were just dumb-dumbs. Like these guys who kept trying to talk to him. When would they take a hint?!

Fung just nervously laughed. "Alright guy, well we'll just be over here talking if you wanna join in. We're kinda cool too. Not as cool as you, of course." Again, no visual response.

"Uh, he can hear us right?" Fung asked.

"Oh yeah, indubitably. His right ear twitched the first you said something, that's an indisputable sign he heard you. It's a subconscious thing with felines." One of the crocs sitting next to Fung said.

"Darn it Gary!" Fung said as he threw his miniature metal helmet onto the table. "Just cause you got that fancy book doesn't mean you can start spouting out all those big words. Most of us don't know what those mean!"

The crocs continued to talk and argue with each other but the panther just shook his head. Though, his interest was slightly increased in "Gary." He was clearly the smartest of the group.

Returning his attention to the room at large once more, he scanned the room for the only animal of interest. This meeting was called to discuss recent events and yet their president had yet to appear. He himself was considered one of the leaders by many, but the unofficial true leader was Zhixin. Thinking of the top-dogs, he brought his attention to the center of the room where there was a much larger round table and many animals around it.

Standing on top of the large circular table was a badger who was in the middle of telling a story with his very animated style. Walking around on the table, constantly talking with his paws, swiping his long claws in the air, re-enacting whatever it was he was describing. Everyone around the table was leaning in, giving him his full attention. What could he say? He was known for his good stories.

The panther really didn't want to hear it though. The badger was by far the most violent member and a large reason his stories were so popular was because he was so damnable crazy. They have had to physically refrain him from killing far too many times already. The Animals are not savages like that and would only kill if they had to or if it was a specific mission.

Regardless if the members were sane or not, the panther still wasn't very fond of most of them. It would be too far to say they're all just a means to an end to him, but they weren't much else. Companions, acquaintances, or comrades at the most.

Movement on the second floor, which overlooked the lower one via a balcony, caught his eye. It was a red fox. Particularly one named Zhixin. And since he wasn't currently on a mission he was wearing his more fancy clothing. He wore a white undershirt and an old fashioned green jacket that was wide open at the top with two columns of buttons going all the way down the center. To compliment the green coat and his own red fur, he also wore simple brown pants.

The panther never knew why the fox seemed to such a large amount about his looks. They really didn't matter. Zhixin was probably aware of this though since he didn't wear them during missions. Rather often just going shirtless, especially while in combat. And because of that, the fox had a large number of scars decorating his furry torso.

 _Females dig scars_ , the fox would often joke. The panther couldn't judge though as sometimes he also went shirtless and he had gotten a number of scars as well.

There was once a time where both he and Zhixin had gotten surrounded by an uncomfortably large amount of soldiers. The two had stayed behind to buy time so the others could escape. As they fought literally back to back, their clothes ended up getting so shredded and ripped they thought ' _to hell with it'_ and ripped off what remained of their shirts.

The remaining soldiers were stunned to say the least. It's not like the two animals in the center of the battle were intimidating or anything. No, not at all. But seeing them rip off their shirts like that and reveal rather muscular bodies with only a few scrapes and cuts made quite an impression.

Until recently the two had been fighting off armed guards with hand-to-hand combat. Just a moment ago they picked up weapons and so far they have only gone for incapacitating and wounding strikes; a spear to the leg, a hilt strike to the head. The two clearly weren't trying to kill them; the amount of control they were exercising was outstanding.

As the battle continued the frustration amongst all the soldiers in the fort grew exponentially. Not to mention the anger of their superior who was watching above. They couldn't handle just _two_ skilled warriors!?

Down below him, red and black fur were back to back, slowly rotating inside the ring of soldiers, ready for whoever dared attack them next. The panther had a spear and the fox two swords. Since it was night, the dim lighting from the torches in the fort made the two animals give off an eerie glow with their dark fur. There would be stories about this battle for a long time to come for sure. The two heard a number of them already and for the first time in a long while, the panther smiled at the thought.

His partner in that battle, Zhixin, was also smiling at the time as he looked over all of the animals in the tavern from the second floor balcony. All of them had very similar stories coming together to fight for a unified cause. Most have been mistreated by society, are outcasts, were abandoned, some were even orphans. And here they all are, fighting to try and stop such societal cruelty from happening.

As he stood there content, animals started noticing and looking up at him. Slowly, more and more pairs of eyes noticed and the voices and storytelling died down. Eventually it was quiet and all were looking at him.

"Wow," he said with a laugh. "I didn't even have to say anything. That's probably better etiquette than a lot of soldiers have." A few chuckles were heard, and then back to silence. They were waiting for him to get to the point of this meeting.

"And speaking of soldiers, we also seem to be better organized and perhaps even more skilled than them! At least considering how well you guys did with the most recent mission. So very well done!"

At that a large majority of them started clapping and applauded for themselves. It wasn't rare for them to receive praise for their work but it was always great to hear, which is partly why Zhixin made such a good leader.

"But...to the matter at hand. There is something much more of note that I should mention."

At this he paused. Thinking of how he should bring forward the more troubling news. If he hadn't already, this would've garnered everyone's attention. The black panther in the back leaned forward. _Finally, to the point,_ he thought.

"The Jade palace warriors have now made contact with us and, as I'm sure many of you have already heard, interfered with the most recent mission. And because of that a good 40% of that group was incarcerated to Ghor Gom... Was still a total success though, so again, kudos to those involved who got out in time."

There was no applause this time. He paused as he let everyone digest this information.

"Buuut unfortunately there is some even worse news. The Dragon Warrior has apprehended one of our crystals..."

 _Dead silence._ It was quiet before to let him speak of course but now it sounded like they could hear a butterfly's wingbeat.

"And Badger wonders how did _that_ happen?" The badger in the center of the room asked, shattering the uncomfortable silence. Zhixin eyed his second-in-command funnily as he was sitting in the center of the table instead of sitting in a chair like _everyone else_.

"Hey, I'd like to see _you_ fight the dragon warrior Badger. Attacks bounce off that guy like nothing else."

"But Badger's claws will _not_. They will pierce the fat armor of THEE Big fat panda like nothing else and all his innards-"

"Yes, yes Badger we don't need to hear the rest of your fantasizing." The panther suddenly spoke up from behind him.

Suddenly nearly every set of eyes in the room was on him, including that of Zhixin's and Badger's. Quite a number of them were surprised from hearing an unrecognized voice come from a figure they knew. They all knew _of_ him and what's he done, but he sounded so much younger than everyone figured he was. Fung looked at him with a newfound curiosity. This guy might've just entered his twenties, just now reaching full maturity.

Having so many pairs of eyes on him made him uncomfortable when he first joined, but he was rather used to it now as everyone has always taken an interest in him. This also only encouraged him to talk even less and he was already an animal of few words.

"Xin, Badger is glad you could join the discussion for once, but make no mistake, do not interrupt again or he'll have to-"

"That's quite enough Badger." Zhixin calmly but loud and sternly called out before things got heated.

"So back on topic. The Dragon Warrior doesn't and won't understand them. But this is still a problem and may need to be taken care of." They all nodded in understanding of this. A lot of players just entered the board now, but the dragon warrior was definitely of the highest threat. _The Queen is now in play._

* * *

Po slowly opened his eyes to a really hazy image, like he just woke up. But, he realized, it wasn't his eyes. They weren't moving around the way he told them too. _He was looking through someone else's_. If he didn't feel so tired, he would've fanboyed out.

As the vision came into focus, Po could see that they were looking at a village that looked absolutely beautiful. Lush green plants everywhere, a creek going through the center, and _panda's_ everywhere.

PANDA'S?!

Again Po's mind just about freaked out but the person's eyes and eyebrows did not move, completely unaware to another mental presence in his own.

Once the figure started walking down into the village from his slightly higher up house, many of the nearby panda's came to greet him, but oddly enough. Po couldn't really hear them. Their voices were muffled, like he was hearing them through a few walls. Po could tell that... whoever he was looking through the eyes of... felt happy with everyone coming to say "hi" and congratulate him but also confused at the inordinate amount of attention.

He must've inquired about what was going on because he started running soon after towards the front of the village where there was a large wooden archway. Looking past it, Po could see snow covered mountains. This was clearly a hidden village but it was like a panda paradise...

It felt weird to be in someone else's eyes but not their mind or body or anything. Just a passenger in someone else's life. It was like a dream that you have no control over.

As they approached the front, they both noticed a goose waiting for them under the archway. He wore a regal looking red outfit. Along the seams were good lining and on the long sleek red sleeves a seam of gold wrapped the arms. _Much like Deshi's_ Po noted. The two started talking and once more Po couldn't comprehend anything they were saying.

Thinking about it must have done something because the voices then started to clear up.

-...that the former Lord Shen had been defeated months ago by the Dragon Warrior in Gongmen city. A panda by the name of Po."

 _Woah I'm being talked about._

"Wha-what're you saying?" The voice said full of hope and desperation.

"I'm saying you guys don't need to be in hiding anymore." Immediately upon hearing this the Panda who Po was looking through started jumping and yelling. The elation from the news seemed to seep into Po and destabilize him or something because suddenly Po's own eyes snapped open and he was smiling broadly.

"Woooaahhh. That was _SO_ cool. I was like viewing the world from someone else's eyes. How did I do that? Must be an inner peace thing... I should go tell Shifu!"

Po jumped up to his feet and ran the entire way up to the Dragon Grotto where Shifu was probably meditating himself. And just like many times before, as Po hopped over that one boulder that has that protrusion, it caught Po's foot in mid-air and caused him to fall into the small creek below him with a loud splash.

As he got up he heard the echo of Shifu sighing. _Yup, he was there._

"Master Shifu, Master Shifu! I was by the peach tree, meditating in my inner peace stance of awesomeness, and it was like, I fell into a dream or something. Suddenly I was looking through the eyes of another panda!"

As he started rattling off about his tale, Shifu jumped off his staff and caught it before it fell over and patiently watched Po tell him whatever he needed to. When he mentioned seeing through another's eyes though Shifu's own widened.

"It was so weird but so cool. At first I couldn't see very well, then that cleared up, then I couldn't hear very well and when he was talking to some goose the voices started to clear up and it turns out he was telling the panda I was looking through the eyes of that Lord Shen was defeated and that the panda village doesn't need to be in hiding anymore! Isn't that SO cool?!"

Shifu looked up at him and blinked a few times. _Don't agree, don't agree with him._

"I...that _is_ rather... interesting Dragon Warrior. The universe must've...wanted you to see that for...some reason." _I'm not jealous. Not at all._ "Oogway did often talk about all the things that were possible once you achieved inner peace and the level that you'd be connected to the universe."

"That is SO cool though!" Po paused, realizing he already said that a few times. "...I still can't hear a butterfly's wingbeat or see light in the darkest cave like you once told me though."

Shifu's calm and collected demeanor finally cracked into a smile. "Those were just legends and rumors Po. But now, it may seem, there are new ones to be written. Now, why don't you go and tell the others?"

"Oh yeah! See ya Shifu!" And just like that, Po ran off without another word. Shifu just shook his head and continued to smile.

On the way back down to the training hall Po called out, "Guys! Hey guys!"

After calling out a few times and getting to the training courtyard, all five of the other warriors came running to the call. There had been numerous times where he called for them and they went on a mission that Po had just been given. There was also that time where Po called them all to only help him set up for the Winter Festival. But nonetheless, they always knew it was a good idea to run to Po when he was calling for them.

"I just talked to Shifu about this but I just had this vision thing where I saw through the eyes of another panda while I was meditating and I saw that there was a whole panda village hidden up in the mountains somewhere! And they were just told of Lord Shen's defeat and that they don't need to be in hiding anymore!"

They all lit up at this news and immediately started congratulating Po on the discovery and talking about what he saw. Well, all except Tigress. Which Po noticed with more than a little disappointment. But what he didn't notice was as soon as he told everyone the news, Tigress had a strong urge to leap forward and hug him. She had taken a small step forward to do so but stopped herself.

"So this means you're not the last one anymore, that's great news Po!" Crane said.

"Oh well come on, I knew I wasn't the LAST one. There was no way Shen could've wiped out all Panda's in all of China."

"But hey man, maybe this'll mean you finally have a chance at meeting a nice _girl panda_." Mantis suggestively said. Po was visually discomforted by this idea, slightly stumbling back and fumbling with his hands.

"Uh...right, yeah. So, how about that dinner?"

Thankfully the topic change worked and they were about to agree but before they could say anything, Tigress spoke up for the first time.

"I'll meet you guys there later. Congratulations Po." She sent Po a small smile which he returned in an even smaller portion. She sure was being distant lately.

The guys apart from Po just shrugged it off and attributed it to the ever growing folder of Tigress-being-Tigress and headed towards the kitchen. As she walked off Po felt an odd tinge of pain in his chest. It felt tight, like he was short of breath. Deciding standing there wasn't doing any good he followed after the others. But Viper still sat there and watched forlornly as Tigress walked off.

She was really doing her best to follow her self-given mission. The one that Viper had to pound out of Tigress that night she left dinner so early.

It had taken quite a bit of effort on Viper's part and maybe a threat that she'd tell Po her theories without Tigress getting to tell her the truth first. Tigress relented, but made Viper promise that she wouldn't tell anyone else in return. They were both stuck between a rock and a hard place in that moment. Viper wanted to know but didn't want to hide the truth from everyone. And Tigress didn't want to tell anyone what she was thinking but she knew Viper and how determined she could be to find answers.

So she opened up a little bit. And it felt like she was lifting a great weight off her shoulders. It really did help to talk about it. She told Viper how it was unnerving her how comfortable she realized she's gotten around Po. How much she's changed since he arrived at the palace.

"It wouldn't bother me if I was like that with everyone, but I'm not. It's just him. And if you're part of a team it is inefficient to pick and choose favorites, otherwise the dynamic will be thrown off. You guys are the closest thing I have to a family, but for him I... I feel...more." She paused here, looking towards the kitchen with a faint smile. It was obvious what was causing it but then the smile disappeared and her stoic features returned. Before Viper could voice her thoughts, she continued.

"I can't think or act towards him as if he is more than a family member, a good comrade. No more than a comrade in battle, and a family member here at the palace. It'd...it could ruin too much."

Viper wanted to disagree but she understood how she was feeling. It made sense to an extent. Especially for Tigress and what she understood of her. So she kept silent.

As Tigress walked down the steps, away from foreign emotions, and away from Po, she reminded herself. _No more than a comrade... It hurts but it is necessary._

Po walked to the kitchen and was planning on drowning out his unusual pain with food. He was right from the start. He wasn't right for her.

 _See?_ Po told himself. _No more than a comradery. Just a friend to her. I'd probably need to be a tiger for her to care anymore than she already does about me._

* * *

 **A/N:** Leave a review or what not. Do something so I know you liked or read this story! Feedback is the best.


	4. Reflections

**A/N:** Don't own Kung Fu Panda. That's Dreamworks. And sorry for the long wait. I love the story that I have planned with this, but I'm having trouble finding motivation to actually pump out the fully fleshed chapters.

 **That Which is Hidden**

Chapter 4: Reflections 

Today was going to be a good today.

It was going to be a good day today because Po had decided that when he woke up this morning. And thus far it was holding to be true; he almost got Tigress to smile for the first time in days. Shifu agreed to let Po go figure out who the crystal might belong to. And to top it all off, it was a sunny day with no clouds in sight.

Currently Po was standing at the top of the thousand stairs, about to depart down into the village. The place that he works so hard to protect and keep safe. The thing that _really_ matters. Not his personal matters, not his unmanaged feelings for Tigress. Which is why he owes it to the citizens of the valley to return this crystal thing as it is no doubt quite expensive.

He was about to depart when he sensed the presence of his friends behind him and he turned to them with a smile.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Viper asked, always the care giving one.

"Nah I'll be fine." Po waved it off with a smile. "I'm sure Shifu wouldn't allow all of you to come with me anyways. Gotta keep you guys in peak form, right Tigress?"

"Right," she flatly said while avoiding eye contact. Po's smile dropped. Her behavior kept reminding him of how she was when he first arrived to the jade palace. It was like their past couple years of friendship had just vanished.

"As the dragon warrior, you must also stay in peak form." The voice of master Shifu suddenly said, his body appearing to the side of Po, who was startled by his appearance.

"How do you keep _doing that?"_ Po asked, flabbergasted. Shifu simply smiled in return then continued. "As you will be missing out on morning training, you should return long before sunset to make up for it. Make sure to check with Commander Deshi at the Soldier's village as well. It could have been stolen from lands much further away from here."

"Uggghhh," Po groaned, slacking his shoulders. Shifu raised a single eyebrow in challenge. "Yes Master Shifu."

Shifu nodded and walked off, silently giving him the go to leave. Po had just turned to take off when a voice spoke up that he hadn't been expecting to hear.

"Good luck Po." Tigress quietly said, but unfortunately for her it came out much louder than she had intended it to. Everyone, including Shifu who was a ways behind her now, turned to look at her in shock.

"What!?" She asked, flustered and irritated at the large amount of attention she was suddenly receiving.

"You never wish any of _us_ luck when we go on solo missions." Crane carefully spoke.

"You guys don't need luck. _He_ does." Tigress said, gesturing in Po's direction. No one responded to that and it fell eerily quiet. Po wasn't sure what to think of that sort-of-but-not-really insult.

Behind them, Shifu's slightly surprised expression morphed into a frown. It was becoming apparent to him that a conversation he had had with her a while back was indeed having some adverse effects.

It was shortly after their return from Gongmen City that Tigress had approached Shifu very tentatively in the dragon grotto. He had sensed her uneasiness coming from miles away. While he had attained inner peace after Po's rise to the title of Dragon warrior and the defeat of his adoptive son Tai Lung, the issue of his current adoptive child had yet to be solved.

But Shifu wasn't nervous at her approach, in fact he smiled that Tigress was actually approaching him on her own time. Something she hadn't done since she was a child and called him "baba."

"Master Shifu? There is a topic I would like to converse with you about..."

Standing on his staff facing away from her, he lifted his head to notify her that he had heard. He didn't open his eyes though. "Of course Master Tigress, is this about a technique that you are having trouble executing to your desired standards?" Shifu knew it wasn't, but if he asked her, then she'd deny it and more easily bring in the topic she truly wanted to discuss.

"It's..." Tigress struggled to get herself to say it. She had fought with herself every day since they had returned on whether or not she wanted to talk to someone about this. When she came to the conclusion that she was far too inexperienced in these matters, if there was anyone she was going to talk to it would either be Viper or Shifu. But if Viper knew so would everyone else in the five and she couldn't have that.

There was no backing down now. "It is regarding the Dragon Warrior." She blurted out.

Shifu opened his eyes and blinked rapidly a few times.

Given Shifu's age, he is of course capable of noticing when others have affection for each other and the growing chemistry between Po and Tigress was most certainly noticeable to him. But just because he had noticed it, doesn't mean he is an expert at dealing with affairs of the heart. Part of the cause, he has realized in his meditation, of Tigress' own issues with that realm.

So for her to bring the issue up with him, meant that now two people were in foreign territory. As such Shifu realized he was going to need to face this problem directly.

Jumping off his staff and landing in front of Tigress, he opened his mouth and raised a finger, but upon finding he couldn't think of anything to say, he lowered it and closed his mouth and simply said, "Continue."

Sitting down cross legged in front of him like the old times when Shifu was first teaching her control, she began but couldn't bring herself to look her adoptive father in the eyes for what she was about to tell him. "It... occurred to me while we were in Gongmen city. Particularly when Master... when Po told us the real reason he was so determined to go after Lord Shen, and what was causing him to be distracted. I... realized I didn't feel for him the same as the five. I actually... hugged him Master Shifu."

Shifu struggled not to smile at this. Tigress was _not_ an affectionate feline. For her to showcase that to _anyone_ really meant something.

Tigress started speaking faster as the dam broke that was holding it all back. "At the time I brushed it off calling it friendly compassion but then when we discovered Po had gone behind our backs and gone after Shen himself. I felt true fear for his safety..." Tigress paused and turned to look further away from Shifu, absentmindedly finding the moss on the rocks quite interesting.

"And I've of course worried about the others before, but not like that. And then when Po was shot by the cannon... I was... was..." Tigress struggled to find the word, eyebrows furrowing concentration.

"Terrified?" Shifu supplied.

"Yes. And when I thought he was..." She swallowed and decided in her mind she didn't want to go into detail about that part, or any of the other parts. He must have gotten the point by now.

She stood up now and spoke with far more strength and for the first time since the start of the conversation made eye contact with Shifu. "This change in my behavior towards one of my teammates needs to come to a halt." For a second time Shifu blinked rapidly a few times. _Wait what?_ "It is unfair to treat them unevenly and that could have dire consequences during battles in the future."

Well he couldn't deny that logic, but she was heading in the wrong direction. This change to her stone cold nature could be great for her. As Po had brought peace to him just like Oogway had predicted, perhaps Po would bring Tigress peace as well, maybe something even more.

"I need your help Master Shifu."

"With what?" He inquired.

"I need to stop this change that I seem to be undergoing. And since the cause of it is something I am very unfamiliar with, I need guidance."

 _I need your help Master..._

 _Nooo…. you just need to believe_. The memory of his last face-to-face interaction with Oogway flashed through his mind and he smiled as he realized how to proceed.

"I think what you need Tigress, is to acknowledge what the problem truly is, and to accept that change is the way of the world." Shifu said while smiling. Must just be a grandmaster thing, to give vague yet great advice. It felt good to do so.

Tigress donned a thoughtful expression for a few moments. _Grand masters,_ she thought slightly annoyed. _Can't they ever make sense?_ She looked him in the eyes, slightly bowed and then went on her way.

For the following months her behavior had not changed so Shifu had gone with the hope that her dislike of the change was simply a phase, and perhaps she was accepting it. Then a few days ago he began to notice her acting more stiffly towards the others. And while her technique was always flawless in the training hall, he noticed subtle differences in how she executed certain moves. It was like there was some additional anger behind her strikes that hadn't been there in a long time.

Something had reminded her of the talk they had and she enacted a change. She was acting more and more like how she was back when Po first arrived to the palace. Shifu solemnly shook his head as he went on his way to meditate. As a teacher, he knew this would all play out and they'll all learn something important from this, but it might be painful to witness from the sidelines.

He could only hope they'll figure it out soon.

* * *

For the first time, being a celebrity in the valley has truly come in handy. No one minded the dragon warrior asking them about the owners of a large jade green crystal. They were too enamored by the presence of the dragon warrior to often given Po a very useful response. But those who did always told Po they've never seen such a large crystal, even at a jewelry store. A few did suggest he talk to the more wealthy citizens. So Po trudged his way up the hills that are just out of town to ask the nobles.

He had hoped all that exercise would be for something, but nope. They didn't recognize it or know of anyone who might be the owner of it. But unlike all the previous citizens, many of them offered to buy if from him, which Po of course politely declined, saying he needed to find the rightful owner. Most of them were rather upset at this, but didn't dare challenge the Dragon Warrior.

After a couple hours of fruitless searching and asking, Po took up Shifu's advice and headed towards the Soldier's village. When Po finally arrived, he took notice that the sun would be setting in a couple hours. So he wouldn't have a lot of time to stay here.

Shortly after he entered the perimeter of the village, a friendly lion that Po hadn't recognized from the back turned and greeted him. "Ah Master Po, what brings you here?"

"Heh, please commander I thought I said to call me Po. I like to be more casual than most of my friends at the Jade Palace."

"Well in that case just refer to me as Deshi. As I hold no authority over you."

"Heh, alright Deshi. I'm trying to find the owner of this crystal thing one of the bandits dropped. Any idea of who it could have belonged to?" Po asked while holding out the crystal for Deshi to take.

As Po and Deshi were roughly the same size, the crystal was still a little smaller than the size of his palm. Rotating it in his hands, he observed as much as he could about it, giving it a very curious look.

"Well I would think it is too large to be a gemstone of value but then there'd be no other explanation for what it is. I'm far from an expert on the matter... My guess Po is that whatever it is, The Animals stole it from a place far away from here. I've never known of any gemstone expeditions around here."

"Aww nuts. I've already gone all over the valley trying to finds its owner." Po grumbled. He could feel the sting in his legs as he had done a lot of running so as to be back in time.

"Well I'm sad to say but I think you best no longer worry about it as it'd only be a waste of time. I'm sure you have more important things to be doing than hunting down the owner of a piece of jewelry."

"Nah, the citizens of the Valley of Peace are always my first priority." Po proudly stated while puffing out his chest.

Deshi simply chuckled. _Such childish purity._ For a moment or two it was quiet and Deshi was about to speak up again when Po beat him to it.

"By the way... if you look into the crystal. Do you see...anything?" Po nervously asked while wringing his hands together. Raising an eyebrow at the panda's sudden awkwardness, Deshi looked into the center of the crystal. He even tried to angle it to see if he could see his own reflection. He could not. After a few moments of not seeing anything apart from the solid emerald green color of it, he shook his head.

Handing it back to Po, he said, "No I don't see anything, not even my reflection. Did you?"

"Uuuhhh, no. No. Why would you ask that? I mean it's just a crystal. Why would ya?"

 _Man that is one horrible liar_. Deshi thought unamused. But he smiled to cover it up and started walking towards one of the buildings, motioning for Po to follow. "Though I must say, if you were to give it to an expert, I'm sure you could make a fine set, or heck even several sets, of jewelry out of it. Give one of them to the woman of your dreams even!" Deshi laughed loudly at this and Po just nervously chuckled.

"Nah nothing of the sort Deshi. Not only is there not that special of a person in my life but she'd... well, I mean... even if there was I doubt she would appreciate jewelry."

Deshi turned a curious eye towards him. Po sucked in his lips at the look, feeling rather embarrassed. Clearly he had said something stupid again but he didn't know what. Again.

"All women either love or at least appreciate the gift of jewelry Master Po."

"I'm pretty sure this one wouldn't nearly as much as others... but besides it doesn't matter because there's no chance anyways." Po wasn't sure where this was coming from but it just seemed so easy to talk to the lion about this. It felt nice to just speak his mind on the topic for once.

Once they entered the barracks, Deshi lead him to one of the bunk beds and motion for Po to sit while he grabbed a nearby chair to face him. Once they were settled, Deshi continued.

"And why's that?"

"Cause she's not even a panda..."

While a little surprised, Deshi shook his head and sadly smiled. "Po, you may be the dragon warrior but with all due respect, you still have much to learn."

"Oh there's no doubt about it. I don't claim to be an expert on anything, not even Kung Fu. I hardly think I've earned the title of Master. That was just kind of slapped on me after I defeated Tai Lung. Tigress, she, uh, heh, she still mops the training hall with me whenever we spar."

Seeing the way he smiled when he mentioned Master Tigress, Deshi couldn't resist a little teasing. "And so what's holding you back from talking to Master Tigress about your feelings for her?"

"Well cause- woah woah hey no, no no I don't have... It's not like that... I don't..." Po stopped his desperate attempts to save himself from Deshi surprisingly acute deduction when he raised a single eyebrow and gave him a stern look. It reminded Po of ones that Shifu would often give him. "Because she's a tiger! And I'm a big fat panda! That'd never work." Po finally admitted.

"Did you know I was once married?" Po of course shook his head; oblivious to the nature of rhetorical questions. "To a leopard you should know. We were both in the military, similar to you and Master Tigress. We just had to promise to each other, and our superiors, even before we were married, that our duty came before our relationship. And nothing ever went wrong. Well... for a time at least. You don't need to be the same species as the one you love Po. Love is love, we can't control it."

Po looked down at the ground forlornly. He knew Deshi was right, but it still seemed so unlikely that a tiger could fall for a panda. A lion and a leopard didn't even seem that odd.

"I just don't know if she even feels the same way. I don't know why she _would_ feel the same way. I don't know anything at all with this. I just want to know at this point but I do know if I asked her or any of the five, that I'd never get the answer. So if I could just get a fellow tiger to talk to her or something that may work."

Deshi frowned at that strange logic but let him continue. Po pulled out the crystal from his pocket and stared at the reflection of him as a white tiger again. "Or... if I was a tiger that'd make things super easy. Kinda wish I was a tiger in this case."

Deshi was about to respond to that rather somber topic but then Po started grunting in pain and flinching.

It felt like the crystal in his hand was absorbing all of his energy, all of his warmth for a moment. And then it changed to sending a continuous flow of pain from his hand and up his arm into the rest of his body. Po didn't want to yell in pain but once he felt the sharp tingling feeling reach his torso he finally screamed. The pain was covering his entire body, spreading like a virus.

He of course wanted to drop the stone as it was causing him so much pain but he found he couldn't command himself to do so. Po then jerked onto the bed and started writhing and yelling in pain.

Deshi rushed forward to him, trying to thinking of a way to help him. The dragon warrior was screaming in pain in _his_ barracks. What was going on?! He had to do something!

He reached for the crystal that was no doubt the cause of his pain but found it was like touching a red hot blade fresh out of the blacksmith's forge. He jumped back with a yelp. But then immediately afterwards Po stopped screaming and his arm and hand went limp by his side. Dropping the crystal to the ground. Looking no different and as innocent as any inanimate object.

Cautiously crouching down, Deshi poked it with a finger. Wasn't hot this time. So he picked it up, and looked at it with a far more critical eye than when Po first brought it to him. _What the hell is this thing?_ After a few moments of staring at it, something changed within the center of it. A flicker of color formed in the center and started spreading towards the rest of the crystal like ink in water. The once vibrant emerald green color of it was now turning into a strong navy blue color. After only a couple seconds, it was now a navy blue crystal, instead of an emerald green one like when Po brought it to him. Rotating it in his hand, he still saw no reflection like Po had mentioned seeing.

Deshi eyed it dubiously. What was going on? But then something on the bed that Po was on caught his eye. It wasn't movement though. His mouth fell open and the crystal once more fell to the ground. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.


	5. Racing

**A/N: Long time no see anyone who read the previous chapters...um, yeah. Here. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Kung Fu Panda or any of the characters. Just my story and the OC's.**

* * *

 **That Which is Hidden**

Chapter 5: Racing

As Shifu stood at the top of the thousand steps looking over the valley of peace, he marveled at how much he could enjoy the peace and beauty of the sight before him. The warm light of a summer sun that was just starting to set was casting its golden glow over the village and all the green forestry on the mountains surrounding them.

It wouldn't be long until the sun would touch the far horizon and light the sky full of wonderful colors that he wished Crane would paint one day. But for the first time since before he had attained inner peace, Shifu wasn't particularly looking forward to the event. Because as soon as the sun set, that meant the Dragon Warrior, the savior of China, one of his beloved students, was missing.

The giant panda had left in the lingering slivers of morning to return an interesting crystal he had somehow obtained while on their most recent mission. Shifu had expected Po to be gone a significant chunk of the day but requested that he return in time for some training as it wouldn't be fair if the others were training all day and he was simply out and about.

A seed of the slightest amount of concern had been planted when the others had returned from midday rest and meditation and there was still no sign of Po. Shifu had requested that Crane fly down to Mr. Ping's and see if he was there and to ask if Po did show up, to send him to the palace immediately. Unfortunately, Mr. Ping had reported no sight of his adopted son since a couple days ago.

It was expected he would no doubt travel to several of the surrounding villages, would likely get distracted by a food cart or start socializing with the citizens or perhaps helping someone in need as his heart of gold often lead him to. Maybe he even had to take care of some pocket of bandits that cropped up. But even if these had all hindered the dragon warriors' perception of time, he was still quite late.

But Shifu put it out of his mind as Po was more than capable of handling himself and, despite his common persona, he was occasionally capable of acting like an adult. Regardless, Shifu resolutely decided Po would get quite the tongue lashing for skipping an entire day of training for whatever it was that was keeping him busy, if it wasn't an army of bandits that is or some new villain.

Only when he had finally dismissed his other students for the evening and they simultaneously looked around for the missing Master, did Shifu allow some concern to truly sink in. For several moments, Shifu had debated if it was acceptable of a master who had attained inner peace to worry. Then he remembered that that was part of the original problem; his lack of emotional connection to his students... Particularly his daughter. Which he was still working on mending.

Thus, he allowed himself to be concerned about the panda's safety. He had after all, just like Oogway predicted, brought him peace. And so, after training had ended, being as optimistic as possible he had told the five to head to the kitchen as he was sure their cook and friend would show up soon.

That was more than an hour ago now. What was that blasted panda doing?

Similar thoughts were running through Tigress' mind as she paced around the kitchen with the wary eyes of the remaining four following her every movement. They were all equally concerned about the whereabouts of their favorite panda but this was something else. Monkey and Mantis had snickered at first at the obvious reason of why only _she_ was so worked up over Po's extended absence. Though, those smirks vanished as more and more time passed and the small talk that they could all conjure up had long since dried up. However, while they were concerned, Tigress looked furious. Any moment she was surely gonna snap and make a few new holes in the walls.

The fact that she was likely quite hungry surely was not helping, as they all were with the lack of their cook. They would eat something else if their minds weren't too occupied to focus on their stomachs.

Tigress stopped pacing. The four collectively held their breath, waiting for the inevitable outburst that the feline was surely about to let loose.

Instead she turned to them and calmly spoke, "I am going to speak with Master Shifu about looking for him." Then, unlike the past hour or so, instead of stomping off, she calmly walked out as if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. The others soon followed her and they all found Shifu standing exactly where he was since they walked into the barracks.

Before Tigress had even come to a full stop Shifu spoke. "If it is desired, you can search for him once the sun has completely set. It will come as no surprise if once we search for him, he is nowhere unusual."

They all nodded but collectively thought the same grim thought. _And if he's not somewhere obvious?_

* * *

In the decades that Deshi had been a soldier and a Captain, he had seen many things that most sane people would not wish to see. Done many questionable things in his life that made him doubt the praise and honor he was usually given. Said praise for his less than honorable acts as a soldier made him almost despise the stereotype that Lions were 'in their nature' honorable.

But none of the things he's seen compared to what he had witnessed just a few hours ago. Right before his very eyes he saw something that belonged in the legendary scrolls of the Jade Palace detailing magical items and the events surrounding them.

The dragon warrior that he knew, the giant fluffy panda, was no longer a panda. After he had screamed and fallen unconscious after holding that accursed crystal, he slowly transformed into a slighter taller and decently fit white tiger. And now, hours later, as he rested on a bed still draped in his clothes that were now far too large for him, Deshi anxiously waited for him to awake in a chair.

Deshi was lost in thought when he heard a groan come from the pan-er, white tiger. He quickly stood up and walked over to Po as he groggily sat up and put a paw to his forehead.

"Ugh, Deshi? Aw man, what happened? I feel horrible." Po groaned as he sat up and kept his eyes closed while rubbing his head. When he heard no response, he opened his eyes (they were still Jade green) and asked, "Deshi?"

Deshi was at a loss of words that even after Po opened his eyes he didn't notice the difference in his own paw size or anything of the sort.

"Um, Po. Look at your paws."

"Huh. What about 'em?" He asked before he looked down. "Oh..."

Finally giving himself a look over Po rotated himself and examined his paws and felt his new torso. "Woooaahhh, aweeessoooome! Wow, this is so _cool_! I'm a tiger! Oh man I gotta see how I-" Po stood up off the bed and as his hips and belly were no longer half as wide, his pants immediately fell to the floor.

Deshi averted his gaze out of courtesy and to stifle a laugh with a paw.

"Agh! Well, I guess... the first thing I should really do is find some clothes to wear." Po mumbled abashed as he picked up his pants and held them in place.

Turning back to him, Deshi's smile vanished as he turned serious. "Po. Are we ignoring the fact that that crystal or gem or whatever you want to call it, just turned you into a white tiger?!" Deshi rarely lost his calm demeanor but that was largely because of experience in all situations, _this_ was very new territory.

"Uh, well I mean, it... Sort of granted my wish. I don't really see a problem here Commander. It just seems to be another kind of shift stone."

"A what?"

"Oh, they're these red stone things up in the palace that allow you to look like another animal, but when you look at yourself, you don't look to be any different." Po supplied, remembering when he had to use one of them to go into Gor-ghom prison to talk to a criminal.

"And do they too change color in your hand and cause you immense pain whenever you change?" Deshi knew the answer but asked anyways as he we slightly irritated at the tiger's blatant disregard of possible danger.

"Well... no, but, really, what's the worst that could happen? If anything that bad happens I'll just change back. Where is it anyways?" He inquired as he looked around for it.

Deshi grabbed it off a nearby table and held it up for him to take. Po widened his eyes when he saw that it had changed colors. "Wooaahhh." He said as he took it in his paw. "It's blue now. Awesome! So, it must change color with each different person!" Sure enough, a moment later, it started to change from navy blue to emerald green. But now when Po looked into it, he saw the reflection of his new tiger face instead of his regular panda one.

As looked closely at his reflection, of course nearly everything looked different but his eyes were still emerald green. And his face... Dare he say he looked handsome? Was that weird to think? His cheeks were no longer flabby but fluffy with fur and his jaw was as defined if not more than Tigress'. The stripes on his head and jaw didn't look as cool as the ones on Tigress but he still found himself staring at them far longer than a natural tiger surely would. For the first time in a long while, Po really liked how he looked.

"Oooohh, I should go talk to Tigress! I can go up there and pretend I'm some other tiger and ask her how she feels about me!"

Deshi crossed his arms and frowned at him. "What?" Po nervously asked, as he physically recoiled. He clearly still held all his old mannerisms.

"Pretending to be someone you're not is never a good idea Po." Deshi sternly stated.

"I knoooow." Po drawled. "But come on, you gotta trust me on this. I really _really_ want to do this. And I can just say I'm somewhere else while I'm up there and- ooooh man, what time is it?" Po suddenly asked as he looked outside.

"It's..." Deshi shook his head at the child like attention span of him. "It's nearing sunset. Why?"

"Augh, what?! I gotta go! The five and Shifu are probably wondering where I am! I gotta figure out how to... Oh hey, or I could run like this. I bet I'm really fast as a tiger."

Deshi sighed with his arms still crossed and a deep frown over his features. He didn't like this, but it was true that he'd get back faster as a tiger. But first things first, he needed some clothes. "Alright, Po. Before you go however you're going to need some clothes and a name." Po turned to him and gave a small smile but didn't say anything.

He clearly needed his help. Looking to the side once more, with a frown, Deshi made up his mind and turned to the door. "I'll be right back."

A few minutes later he came back with some clothes in hand and told Po to try them on. As he did Deshi turned and spoke. "Those clothes were my son's many years ago. You guys are about the same size now. They should fit well."

After a few moments passed he heard Po say, "They do." with an uncharacteristically strong voice.

Deshi turned around and was impressed at the sight he saw. Before him stood a white tiger dressed in charcoal black pants and a long sleeve dark blue vest with silver vines and petals adorning his torso and the trim outlined with silver. Matched with his white fur and black stripes, he looked quite appealing. Deshi couldn't deny in his own mind that if Po were to talk to Tigress, she most likely would be attracted to him in this form... _'Especially with the personality of Po if I'm not mistaken.'_ He mentally added with a small smirk.

Fine. Maybe he could get on board with this. It could certainly add some fun on the side and take his mind off of all the dreaded hunting missions for The Animals. It's always fun to watch romance blossom.

As Po continued to observe himself in awe Deshi stood and a proud grin gradually grew on his face. That is until he was reminded why he was smiling and just who's clothes those were. The smile vanished and his thoughts turned sour, which Po took notice to. "Thank you, Commander." Po softly said, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"You... said these were you son's?" Po tentatively inquired, to which Deshi nodded. "Um, what happened to him? He's not... is he...?"

"No, he's alive. He's just... Not around here anymore." Deshi supplied uneasily.

"Oh ok, phew. Glad to hear that."

Deshi just smirked a little at Po's obliviousness to the ominous statement of his son's whereabouts. Po was going to have to become more empathetic if he was going to even try to divulge Master Tigress' feelings. He'd also need to gain the skill of lying, which without even bothering to test, Deshi knew he was not capable of. Po is too pure of a spirit to have gained that skill.

Which reminded him. "Kang. That'll be your name." Po, or rather Kang now, smiled and nodded, silently accepting it. "But now you need to go. We can discuss your plan later. And... Bring your crystal thing too." He said as he picked it up like it was a vial containing a deadly virus. Po, or rather Kang, grabbed it and pocketed it without a second thought.

"We should give it a name don't you think?" Po/Kang giddily suggested just as he was about to go out the door. "All the artifacts up in the palace have cool names like the Sacred War Hammer of Lei Lang or-"

"Po, we don't know what it is, hardly how it works, or its origin. Not the best time for naming it." Deshi interjected. And then after a moment, "Why don't we just call it a morph crystal. You said it's similar to the shift stone but that didn't physically change your appearance but rather casted an illusion."

Po was slightly taken aback by the intelligent sounding description of what the shift stones do but shrugged it off.

"And before you go, you need a good story to explain where you've been all day."

"Oh well that's easy, I've been looking for villagers to return this to." Po said as he opened the door and held the crystal out as he referred to it.

"You really think that would have taken you _ALL_ day?" Deshi skeptically challenged with an eyebrow raise as he followed Po out the door.

Po faltered. "Er...well ok I guess not." Deshi nodded with an appeased smile.

"So, in that case, let's say you... fell asleep because while you were talking to all the different villagers they offered you food. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Yeah it...does. How'd you do that? That totally sounds like something I'd do."

Deshi slyly smiled at the praise. "It's the skill of being a liar Po. Not one I'd expect you to have, nor one I'd feel good about teaching you."

"Well it's no secret I'm not good at it, and if I'm going to do anything as a Tiger, I'm going to need to explain where I supposedly went. And-"

"Yes yes, we'll figure that all out later. Don't you have somewhere to be?" Deshi interjected.

"Oh, right, yeah." Po was about to take off on all four when Deshi reminded him to take his old clothes and he ran back in the door. Then after quickly saying their goodbyes, he started running back to the palace on all fours.

While he ran, he marveled at how fast he was moving on all fours and after a couple miles he still wasn't in the slightest fatigued. But he saw that the sun was getting concerningly low; it was almost sunset. If the sun completely set and he wasn't back, he'd surely be in big trouble.

Roughly thirty minutes later, he zoomed through the streets of the valley of peace, easily weaving and dodging his way around civilians as to not trample any of them. Skidding to a halt in an alley nearby his father's noodle shop, Po/Kang stood up and breathed with his mouth open smiling widely.

"Awesome," he said breathlessly. He'd never really enjoyed running but at that speed, he had to admit it was quite enjoyable. Taking out his folded pants and the newly named morph crystal, he set them on the ground and was about to take his clothes off when he cautiously looked out into the street to make sure no one was watching. But come to think of it, he didn't even know what _HE_ looked like naked. He'd woken up with his pants on and didn't exactly examine himself when his pants fell down earlier.

Shaking his head of such thoughts, he checked the street once more then took of his vest and with a shaky breath and for no good reason closed his eyes as he took off his pants. Opening an eye just the slightest amount so he could see the crystal, he grabbed it and then squeezed it in his palm and shut his eyes while wishing to be a panda again.

Immediately it responded and Po felt the same pain spread throughout his whole body as if lava or molten metal was flowing through his veins. He struggled to keep his mouth shut but let out a few whimpers of pain as he changed. To his displeasure, he could immediately tell when he was back in his true form as he felt significantly heavier and could feel his belly return. But to his relief, he did not pass out and merely had a headache when it was over.

After slipping on his pants and pocketing the emerald green crystal, he picked up his other set of clothes then walked out into the street and turned the corner into his dad's restaurant. As it was summer and long after dinner time, thankfully there weren't a whole lot of fans to greet him but it still took a few minutes to work his way through and after saying hi to his dad and hiding his clothes behind his back, managed to work his way into his old room.

He still came in here occasionally when he returned to help his dad on his time off, but it didn't feel like his room so much anymore. Looking at the window he reminded himself of his time constraint and quickly dropped off his clothes and the crystal.

Waving and yelling out numerous farewells as he made his way out of the dining area and made a beeline for the thousand steps he noticed the sun had officially set now.

Po started running up the steps frantically but as he just started to do so, he was suddenly hit by a wave of fatigue and slowed down to a painful trudge up the steps. "Ugh." He let out. Apparently, the fatigue from running as a tiger carried over as these days he was regularly able make it up these stairs just fine.

Not even a minute more of walking up the stairs did he hear a SWOSH of wind over his head and looked up to see Crane flying overhead and down into the valley. He turned around, cupped his hands to his mouth and was about to call out to him when suddenly, "PANDA!"Yelled a very angry female voice behind him. Po flinched and slowly turned around.

"Where've you been?! Explain yourself!" Tigress demanded with her paws on her hips and fire in her amber eyes. The other three were beside her and looked equally upset. As he was trying to think of a response Crane landed next to Viper so there were two on each side of Tigress.

"Uh..." He lamely said. Before anything else could be said on either said however, Monkey chuckled and said, "Aw who cares. He's OKAY!" and attacked him with a hug. Mantis, Crane and Viper soon joined in and started pelting him with questions on where's been in a much friendlier manner and as a group, they started walking up the stairs, leaving a still very irate feline in their tracks.

"Guys, _guys,_ I just fell asleep down by the weapons village where Captain Deshi is. I'm alright." He said while laughing. "I guess I just ate too much. A number of the villagers I was talking to about the crystal offered me food." Po reported effortlessly as Deshi had told him to.

"Pfft, yeah that's you big guy. Shoulda known you just fell into a food coma." Mantis joked. "And speaking of food, I'M HUNGRY!" They all (except Tigress) voiced their agreement with that and Po was more than happy to oblige and lead them to the kitchen to start cooking.

A while into the cooking process Tigress finally joined them and sat down in her usual seat at the end of the table. When a pause in the conversation appeared, she stated in a monotone, "I was reporting to Master Shifu on where the Dragon Warrior has been."

There was a long and awkward silence after she said that but Tigress didn't even seem to take notice of everyone looking at her as she was clearly too focused on glaring holes into the table.

The rest of the night almost went as they usually do except for the oddity that was Tigress. Apart from the earlier monotone statement, she also put down the offer of Po's noodle soup to everyone's shock and ate her old usual of steamed tofu.

But as if Po had been gone for days, they all happily regaled him with stories of their training that his missed today and jokes and jabs were thrown around the table and all around were having a good time. "And heh, buddy, you shoulda seen em, Viper and Crane here were sparring over in the field of fire and just when Crane had stuck out a leg to do his-"

The abrupt sound of one of the wooden chairs scooting back cut him off. They all silently watched as Tigress stood up and without looking at any of them said, "Good night everybody." and walked down the hall without a second glance.

Po was quite enjoying hearing the stories of training up until then but now that she had left so abruptly, even as Mantis continued his story, Po couldn't help thinking that she reminded him an awful lot of how she behaved when he first arrived here.

Had he done something wrong? What was with her? Whatever it was, he'd surely find out when he changed into a tiger and talked to her. It would make a lot of sense for two tigers to have a conversation more easily than others... right?

Surely that made sense, Po reassured himself when he went to bed that night. He had to put all his faith in the crystal and its ability to reconnect with Tigress. Whatever he had done wrong, it will be able to fix.

What could possibly go wrong?


End file.
